Technologies for dynamically dispatching generator power

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for determining how to dispatch power to a property from a generator are provided. According to certain aspects, a controller associated with the generator may retrieve or access a set of data indicating time of use rates associated with utility power, performance characteristics of the generator, and/or energy usage data. Based on the data, the controller may determine a set point corresponding to when it may be beneficial to dispatch generator power to the property instead of utility power. At the set point, the controller may facilitate supplementing power from utility power with power from the generator. Additionally, the controller may collect usage and performance data associated with dispatch of the generator power.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/799,468, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,244,410, filed Feb. 24, 2020, thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

The present disclosure is directed to power management. Moreparticularly, the present disclosure is directed to platforms andtechnologies for determining conditions for dispatching electric powerfrom an electric generator to at least partially replace utility power.

BACKGROUND

In many areas and jurisdictions, properties receive energy or power fromelectric utility providers, where the electric power may be regulated,generated, and distributed via existing infrastructure. Generally, anowner or tenant of each property pays an electric utility provider foran amount of power used over a specific time period. Alternative formsof electric power also exist. For example, some properties have solarpanels which convert sunlight into electric power to replace orsupplement utility electric power.

However, both conventional utility electric power and alternative formsof power have associated costs, including metered costs, installationcosts, and/or other extraneous or related costs. In some situations,these costs may consistently vary based on certain factors. For example,utility electric power may have different rates based on the time ofday, day of week, and/or time of year, which may be set and adjusted bythe utility provider. Therefore, it is difficult if not impossible forindividuals to accurately predict or assess which form of electric powerwill be most cost effective at a point in time or across any given timeperiod.

Accordingly, there is an opportunity for systems and methods todetermine how and when to dispatch or resume different forms of electricpower in a cost effective manner.

SUMMARY

A computer-implemented method of determining how to dispatch energy froman electric generator for a customer may be provided. The method mayinclude: accessing (i) a set of historical energy usage data associatedwith the customer, and (ii) a set of performance characteristics of theelectric generator, determining, by a controller based on the set ofhistorical energy usage data and the set of performance characteristics,a set point to dispatch power from the electric generator, accessingutility metered load data associated with the customer, determining, bythe controller based on the utility metered load data, to dispatch thepower from the electric generator according to the set point, causingthe electric generator to dispatch the power according to the set point,collecting, by the controller when the electric generator is dispatchingthe power, (i) a set of performance data associated with the electricgenerator, and (ii) usage load data associated with the electricgenerator, and transmitting, via a transceiver to a server computer, theset of performance data and the usage load data.

In an embodiment, an electric generator may be provided. The electricgenerator may include a memory storing a set of performancecharacteristics associated with the electric generator, a transceiverconfigured to communicate with a server via at least one networkconnection, and a controller interfaced with the memory and thetransceiver. The controller may be configured to: access, via thetransceiver, at least one of: a set of historical energy usage dataassociated with a customer, or a set of time-of-use rates associatedwith utility power, determine, based on the set of performancecharacteristics and the at least one of the set of historical energyusage data or the set of time-of-use rates, a set point to dispatchpower from the electric generator, access utility metered load dataassociated with the customer, determine, based on the utility meteredload data, to dispatch the power from the electric generator accordingto the set point, dispatch the power according to the set point, collecta set of performance data associated with dispatching the power, andtransmit, via the transceiver, the set of performance data.

In another embodiment, a computer-implemented method of dispatchingenergy from an electric generator for a customer may be provided. Themethod may include: accessing (i) a set of time-of-use rates associatedwith utility power, and (ii) a set of performance characteristics of theelectric generator; determining, by a controller of the electricgenerator based on the set of time-of-use rates and the set ofperformance characteristics, a set point to dispatch power from theelectric generator; at the set point, causing the electric generator todispatch the power; and collecting, by the controller when the electricgenerator is dispatching the power, a set of performance data associatedwith the electric generator.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1A depicts a diagram of an exemplary system for generating anddistributing electric power in multiple ways, in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 1B depicts a hardware diagram of an electric generator andcomponents thereof, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary signal diagram associated with determininghow to dispatch energy from an electric generator, in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary flow diagram associated with determining howto dispatch energy from an electric generator, in accordance with someembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present embodiments may relate to, inter alia, systems and methodsfor determining when and how to dispatch power, from an electricgenerator, to supply to a property. According to certain aspects, aproperty may be equipped with conventional utility electric power andmay also be configured with an electric generator that may facilitatevarious functionalities of the claimed systems and methods. Generally,the systems and methods may determine when it may be beneficial to atleast supplement utility electric power with power from the electricgenerator. It should be appreciated that the systems and methods alsocontemplate replacing utility electric power with power from theelectric generator in certain instances (e.g., during a power outage).In these instances, the systems and methods may sense an outage andtransfer from a grid parallel model to a grid independent mode, and theelectric generator may serve as a host load according to the size of theelectric generator through a panel of breakers.

In particular, the generator may be configured with a controller thatmay monitor or access certain data to determine when it may bebeneficial to cease utility electric power and instead dispatch powerfrom the generator. For example, it may be more cost efficient todispatch power from the generator at certain times of day, days of theweek, times of the year, etc. The controller may additionally accountfor past and/or estimated power usage by an individual(s)/customer(s)associated with the property. Further, when the generator is supplyingelectric power to the property, the controller may collect usage andperformance data associated with usage of the generator, and transmitthe collected data to a server for analysis and to be used foroperational improvements associated with the generator.

The systems and methods therefore offer numerous benefits. Inparticular, the systems and methods determine when it is beneficial todispatch power from the generator, where the customers or individualsassociated with the properties may take advantage of the benefits. Forexample, the customers or individuals may see cost savings associatedwith consumption of electric power from the generator versus utilityelectric power. Additionally, the systems and methods may collect andanalyze usage and performance data that may be used to improveperformance of the generator. Further, usage of the generator results inthe customers or individuals being less reliant on “the grid,” and maytherefore experience fewer or zero power outages, and may also result ina reduced amount of instances of accidents and disasters that are causedby the electric utility grid. Moreover, the systems and methods maypromote efficiencies in electric power usage which may improve theenvironment. It should be appreciated that other benefits areenvisioned.

The systems and methods discussed herein address a challenge that isparticular to power management. In particular, the challenge relates toa difficulty in determining how and when to manage the delivery ofelectric power from multiple sources. This is particularly apparent withthe increasing amount of sources of power that may be employed by aproperty. In conventional environments, consumers actively andexplicitly facilitate actions to switch and/or combine power sources,either permanently or in response to certain triggers, without anaccurate idea on the present and future costs of such switches and/orcombinations. In contrast, the systems and methods examine and analyzecertain data to automatically determine when it is financiallybeneficial to supplement utility power with electric generator power,and facilitate power dispatches accordingly. Therefore, because thesystems and methods employ the collection, analysis, and storing of dataassociated with power management, the systems and methods arenecessarily rooted in computer technology in order to overcome the notedshortcomings that specifically arise in the realm of power management.

Similarly, the systems and methods provide improvements in a technicalfield, namely, power management. Instead of the systems and methodsmerely being performed by hardware components using basic functions, thesystems and methods employ complex steps that go beyond the mere conceptof simply retrieving and combining data using a computer. In particular,the hardware components retrieve or access power-related data, analyzethe data to determine how to effectively dispatch power from variouspower sources, and facilitate the dispatch of the power. Thiscombination of elements further impose meaningful limits in that theoperations are applied to improve power management by associating andanalyzing multiple types of distinct data in a meaningful and effectiveway.

FIG. 1A illustrates an overview of a system 100 of components configuredto facilitate the systems and methods. It should be appreciated that thesystem 100 is merely an example and that alternative or additionalcomponents are envisioned.

As illustrated in FIG. 1A, the system 100 may include a utility powerinfrastructure 113 that may be configured to supply utility power to aproperty 117. Therefore, the property 117 may be considered to be on theutility “electrical grid.” Although depicted as a house in FIG. 1 , theproperty 117 may be any type of physical structure (e.g., commercialbuilding, townhouse, condo/condo building, apartment/apartment building,etc.) configured for the delivery of utility electric power.Additionally, a single property 117 is depicted in FIG. 1 , however itshould be appreciated that additional properties may be configured toreceive utility power.

The utility power infrastructure 113 may include one or more generatingstations 112, a set of high voltage transmission lines 114, and a set ofadditional transmission lines 116. Although not depicted in FIG. 1 , theutility power infrastructure 113 may further include additional elementsand components as conventionally implemented, for example a set ofstep-up substations, a set of step-down substations, a set of step-downtransformers, and/or others. The generation station(s) 112 may employany type or combination of types of power generation, such as coal,nuclear, solar, wind, natural gas, and/or the like. Generally, theutility power infrastructure 113 may comprise multiple sets ofgenerating stations 112, high voltage transmission lines 114, additionaltransmission lines 116, and/or other components installed or located atvarious locations, where certain portions of the utility powerinfrastructure 113 supply electric utility power to certain properties,neighborhoods, areas, and/or the like.

Generally, the utility power generated by the generation station(s) 112is transmitted to the property 117 via the set of high voltagetransmission lines 114, the set of additional transmission lines 116,and the other components, where all or portions of the utility powerinfrastructure 113 may be managed by one or more utility providers. Anindividual(s) or customer(s) associated with the property 117 (e.g., anowner of the property) may be signed up or registered for receiving theutility power as managed by the utility provider. Thus, the customer(s)may have an account with the utility provider and may pay for theutility power on a periodic basis (e.g., monthly) according to how muchutility power the property 117 actually uses or is estimated to use.

The system 100 may further include a generator 105 that may bephysically connected to a natural gas source 118. According toembodiments, the natural gas source 118 may be associated with anadditional utility used by the property 117 and managed by a utilityprovider (which may be the same or different utility provider thatmanages the utility power infrastructure 113). For example, the property117 may receive electric utility power through an electric utilityprovider and natural gas service through a natural gas utility provider.The generator 105 may be configured to generate electric power using thenatural gas source 118, and store the electric power for deployment tothe property 117. Thus, the property 117 may receive power from theutility power infrastructure, from the generator 105, or from acombination thereof. The generator 105 may be configured with acontroller 106 that may be configured to manage and facilitate operationof the generator 105 and its dispatch of power to the property 117.

The system 100 may additionally include one or more servers 110 that maycommunicate with various components of the generator 105 (e.g., thecontroller 106) via one or more networks 115. The server(s) 110 may beassociated with an entity such as a utility provider, company, business,corporation, or the like, which manages policies, accounts, data or thelike associated with usage of the generator 105 and/or usage of theutility power infrastructure 113. In particular, the server 110 may beassociated with a company that analyzes, stores, and avails data thatenables the controller 106 to improve efficiency associated with usageof the generator 105. Additionally or alternatively, the server 110 maybe associated with the utility provider that manages the utility powerinfrastructure 113. It should be appreciated that the generator 105 mayinterface and communicate with multiple servers 110 respectivelyassociated with multiple entities, companies, utility providers, and/orthe like. The network(s) 115 may support any type of data communicationvia any standard or technology including various wide area network orlocal area network protocols (e.g., GSM, CDMA, VoIP, TDMA, WCDMA, LTE,EDGE, OFDM, GPRS, EV-DO, UWB, Internet, IEEE 802 including Ethernet,WiMAX, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and others).

In operation, the controller 106 may access data indicative of past,current, and/or estimated future power usage, utility costs, and/or thelike, and may determine when it may be beneficial (e.g., cost effective)to dispatch power from the generator 205 to the property 117, which ineffect transitions (partially or fully) the property from receivingpower via the utility power infrastructure 113 to receiving power fromthe generator 105. The controller 106 may collect usage and performancedata in association with power being dispatched from the generator 105,and transmit the usage and performance data to the server(s) 110 via thenetwork(s) 115, where the network(s) 115 may analyze the usage andperformance data, and determine various metrics, trends, predictions,and/or the like, and generally determine how to improve operation of thegenerator 105. It should be appreciated that the controller 106 mayadditionally or alternatively perform these determinations based on thecollected usage and performance data. These functionalities aredescribed in more detail with respect to FIG. 2 and other subsequentfigures and descriptions.

FIG. 1B illustrates a hardware diagram of the generator 105 andcomponents thereof, in which various of the functionalities as discussedherein may be implemented and facilitated. It should be appreciated thatthe generator 105 may be an electric generator configured to generateelectric power using a power source, such as a natural gas source orother type of power source. Generally, the generator 105 may comprise orbe powered by a reciprocating engine which may use the expansion ofnatural gas to drive a set of pistons within a set of cylinders andconvert the linear movement of the set of pistons to circular movementof a crankshaft to generate power.

The generator 105 may include the controller 106 as well as a memory178. The memory 178 may store an operating system 179 capable offacilitating the functionalities as discussed herein as well as a set ofapplications 175 (i.e., machine readable instructions). For example, oneof the set of applications 175 may be an operation application 190configured to facilitate functionalities associated with determining howand when to dispatch power from the electric generator and generallymanaging the power to an associated property, as discussed herein. Itshould be appreciated that one or more other applications 192 areenvisioned. For example, one of the other applications 192 may be ananalysis application configured to collect and analyze variousperformance and usage data associated with operation of the generator105.

The controller 106 may be implemented as a control module with aprogrammable logic controller (PLC) configured to interface with othercomponents internal to and external from the generator 105, receive oraccess data and readings from the components, determine actions tofacilitate based on the received/accessed data and readings, andinstruct other components to facilitate certain actions. Additionally oralternatively, the controller 106 may be a processor configured toexecute a set of computer-readable instructions, such as instructionsassociated with the set of applications 175.

The controller 106 may interface with the memory 178 to execute theoperating system 179 and the set of applications 175. According to someembodiments, the memory 178 may also include other data 180 includingstatic or real-time performance data associated with operation of thegenerator 105, historical energy usage data, rate data indicative of acost of certain electric power (e.g., electric utility rate data),and/or other data. The memory 178 may include one or more forms ofvolatile and/or non-volatile, fixed and/or removable memory, such asread-only memory (ROM), electronic programmable read-only memory(EPROM), random access memory (RAM), erasable electronic programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), and/or other hard drives, flash memory,MicroSD cards, and others.

The generator 105 may further include a communication module 177configured to communicate data via one or more networks (such as thenetwork(s) 115 as discussed with respect to FIG. 1A). According to someembodiments, the communication module 177 may include one or moretransceivers (e.g., WWAN, WLAN, and/or WPAN transceivers) functioning inaccordance with IEEE standards, 3GPP standards, or other standards, andconfigured to receive and transmit data via one or more external ports176. For example, the communication module 177 may communicate with theserver 110 via the network(s) 115, as discussed with respect to FIG. 1A.Generally, the external port(s) 176 may be an Ethernet port or othertype of wired or wireless data port.

The generator 105 may further include a user interface 174 configured topresent information to a user and/or receive inputs from the user. Inparticular, the user interface 174 may include a display screen andvarious I/O components 183 (e.g., ports, capacitive or resistive touchsensitive input panels, keys, buttons, lights, LEDs). According to someembodiments, a user (e.g., an engineer or a customer) may facilitatecertain operations of the generator 105 via the user interface 174 usingvarious selections.

Additionally, the generator 105 may include a surge suppressor 181, apower conditioner 182, and a set of meters 183. The surge suppressor 181may prevent damage to various components of the generator 105 fromvoltage spikes and the power conditioner 182 may improve the quality ofthe power that is dispatched from the generator 105. The set of meters183 may include a utility power meter 184 that may measure the amount ofutility power consumed by the property 117, a generator power meter 185that may measure the amount of power dispatched from the generator 105and consumed by the property 117, and a natural gas meter 186 that maymeasure the amount of natural gas used by the generator 105 to generatethe generator power.

The generator 105 may further include a set of sensors 188, a protectiverelay(s) 189, and an alternator 195. According to embodiments, the setof sensors 188 may include a temperature sensor(s) (e.g., an ambient airtemperature sensor and an internal air temperature sensor), a doorcontact sensor(s), and/or other sensors. The controller 106 may accessor receive data from the set of sensors 188 and analyze the sensor datato determine how to facilitate and/or improve operation of the generator105. The protective relay(s) 189 may handle faults that may occur duringoperation of the generator 105. The alternator 195 may generateelectrical energy, for example using natural gas as a source, fordispatch from the generator 105.

Moreover, the generator 105 may include an automatic transfer switch 187that may facilitate transfer of power output from the utility powersource to the generator 105, and vice-versa. In particular, thecontroller 106 may analyze various data to determine how and when tosupplement utility power with generator 105 power, and may instruct theautomatic transfer switch 187 to facilitate the power sourcesupplementing. It should be appreciated that other components associatedwith the generator 105 are envisioned.

In general, a computer program product in accordance with an embodimentmay include a computer usable storage medium (e.g., standard randomaccess memory (RAM), an optical disc, a universal serial bus (USB)drive, or the like) having computer-readable program code embodiedtherein, wherein the computer-readable program code may be adapted to beexecuted by the controller 106 (e.g., working in connection with theoperating system 179) to facilitate the functions as described herein.In this regard, the program code may be implemented in any desiredlanguage, and may be implemented as machine code, assembly code, bytecode, interpretable source code or the like (e.g., via C, C++, Java,Actionscript, Objective-C, Javascript, CSS, XML). In some embodiments,the computer program product may be part of a cloud network ofresources.

FIG. 2 depicts a signal diagram 200 associated with facilitating certainfunctionalities associated with the systems and methods. The signaldiagram 200 includes a set of components that may be associated withelectric power: a generator 205 (such as the generator 105 as discussedwith respect to FIGS. 1A and 1B) having a controller 206 (such as thecontroller 106 as discussed with respect to FIGS. 1A and 1B) and anautomatic transfer switch 287 (such as the automatic transfer switch 187as discussed with respect to FIG. 1B); and one or more servers 210 (suchas the server(s) 110 as discussed with respect to FIG. 1A). According toembodiments, the generator 205 may be disposed or located on a propertyowned and/or occupied by a customer, where the property may receiveelectric power via an electric utility (e.g., in normal operation)operated or managed by a utility provider. The generator 205 may beconfigured to additionally or alternatively supply electric power to theproperty.

The signal diagram 200 may begin when the controller 206 retrieves (220)relevant data from one or more of the server(s) 210 via one or morenetwork connections. In particular, the controller 206 may access a setof historical energy usage data associated with the customer and/or theproperty, where the set of historical energy usage data may correspondto utility energy usage over various past time periods and from which aperiodic usage rate may be determined (e.g., hourly, weekly, monthly,etc.). Accordingly, the set of historical energy usage data may indicatehow much utility energy the customer typically uses across various timeperiods. The set of historical energy usage data may indicate conditionsassociated with the energy usage, such as external temperature and othermetrics. Thus, the set of historical energy usage data may indicate howmuch utility energy was used across various situations. It should beappreciated that the controller 206 may retrieve the set of historicalenergy usage data from a server associated with the applicable utilityprovider, or the controller 206 may locally access the set of historicalenergy usage data, for example from an on-site utility meter or fromlocal memory that may store the data.

Additionally, the controller 206 may access rate data associated withutility electric power. According to embodiments, the rate data maycorrespond to the cost or rate to consumer the utility electric power ona specific date or day or week, at a specific time, and/or over aspecific time period. For instance, the rate data may be time-of-usepricing (TOU) (i.e., rate over set periods of time), real-time pricing(RTP) (i.e., usage on an hourly or other periodic basis), variable peakpricing (VPP) (i.e., defining pricing periods in advance where the ratevarious by utility and market conditions), critical peak pricing (CPP)(e.g., when the utility provider observes or anticipates higherwholesale market prices or power system emergency conditions), or otherrate programs. It should be appreciated that the controller 206 mayaccess the rate data directly from the utility provider (via a networkconnection), from another entity, or from locally-stored data. Further,it should be appreciated that the rate data may indicate the cost of thepower used by the generator 205 to generate its electric power (e.g.,the rate of the natural gas supplied to the generator 205).

The controller 206 may additionally access various performancecharacteristics or parameters associated with operation of the generator205 and/or components thereof. In some situations, the performancecharacteristics may be static data indicating the capabilities of thegenerator 205, such as performance characteristics that may be includedin the “specs” of the generator 205. In other situations, theperformance characteristics may be real-time or near-real-timeperformance characteristics associated with current or past operation ofthe generator 205. Generally, the performance characteristics mayindicate voltage output, power usage, electrical efficiency, storedpower level, temperatures, engine diagnostic information, fuelconsumption, customer utility load data, and/or other characteristics.The performance characteristics may also indicate the cost of operatingthe generator 205 (e.g., based on the cost of the natural gas or otherresource that the generator 205 uses to generate electric power).Accordingly, the controller 206 may be able to determine, from theperformance characteristics, how effectively the generator 205 and/orcomponents thereof may operate across a given time period. For example,the controller 206 may determine the power output necessary to meet theestimated power requirements for the given time period. It should beappreciated that the controller 206 may access the performancecharacteristics from the server(s) 210 (e.g., a server associated with amanufacturer or supplier of the generator 205), or from locally-storeddata. Further, it should be appreciated that any locally-stored data maybe updated automatically due to any adjustments in operation of thegenerator 205.

After retrieving or accessing the relevant data, the controller 206 maydetermine (222) a set point for dispatching power from the generator 205based on at least a portion of the relevant data. According toembodiments, the set point may correspond to a time, situation, orcondition at or in which it is economically more efficient or effectivefor the generator 205 (versus the utility) to supply electrical power tothe property. The set point may be an estimated or predicted (i.e.,non-absolute) time, situation, or condition, where the economic benefitmay be realized by the customer. For example, an economic benefit may berealized at or in a time, situation, or condition in which dispatchingpower from the generator 205 to the property is cheaper than theproperty receiving utility power.

For instance, assume that the rate of utility power peaks from 4:00PM-9:00 PM on Monday through Friday for the month of July at a rate oftwenty cents per kWh, the customer historically averages 1000 kWh ofelectrical power usage during those time periods on those days (i.e., atotal cost of $1,000), and the estimated cost of dispatching 1000 kWh ofelectrical power from the generator 205 is $750, then the controller 206can determine that operating the generator 205 at a cost of $0.15/kWh isless than buying the utility power at a cost of $0.20/kWh. In thisinstance, the controller 206 determines the set point to be the start ofthe utility power peak (i.e., at 4:00 PM on Monday through Friday),Additionally, the set point may indicate the end of the utility powerpeak (i.e., at 9:00 PM on each Monday through Friday in July), at whichpoint the property may switch back from being at least partiallysupplied by generator 205 power to utility power.

Generally, the generator 205 may be configured to supplement theelectricity being consumed by a property (e.g., the property 117). Forexample, if the property has a peak usage rate of 1000 kWh, thegenerator 205 may supply 720 kWH of the 1000 kWh being consumed by theproperty. Accordingly, the property may experience a savings on the 720kWh being supplied by the generator 205 (while receiving another 280 kWhin utility power). It should be appreciated that, in some scenarios(e.g. a power outage), power from the generator 205 may completelyreplace utility power.

At 224, the controller 206 may access load data associated with theutility electric power. In embodiments, the load data may indicate acurrent utility electric load (e.g., an amount or rate) currently beingused by the property, a predicted utility electric load to be used bythe property across a given time period (e.g., based on historical usagedata and/or predicted conditions such as temperature, time of day,etc.), and/or other metrics. In some situations, the controller 206 mayuse the load data to determine whether the set point determined in (222)is triggered or reached. For example, the set point may indicate thatonce the utility load reaches a certain threshold amount, power from thegenerator 205 should be dispatched.

At 226, the controller 206 may determine whether to dispatch power fromthe generator 205. In particular, the controller 206 may determine todispatch the power based on the set point determined in (222), andoptionally on the load data accessed in (224) and/or a current capacityof the generator 205 (or another operating status parameter of thegenerator 205). In one scenario, the controller 206 may determine thatthe accessed load data aligns with one or more parameters of thedetermined set point. For example, if the determined set point indicatesthat power from the generator 205 should be dispatched when a thresholdutility electric load is exceeded, the controller 206 should determineto dispatch the power from the generator 205 when the current utilityelectric load exceeds the threshold utility electric load.

In another scenario, the controller 206 may previously determine the setpoint to dispatch the power from the generator 205 to be every weekdayevening from 5:00 PM-8:00 PM, which may be independent of any currentutility electric load. Accordingly, on each weekday evening at 5:00 PM,the controller 206 may determine to dispatch the power from thegenerator 205. According to embodiments, the controller 206 may accountfor the power capacity and/or other current operation parameters of thegenerator 205 when determining whether to dispatch the power. Forexample, the controller 206 may determine to dispatch power from thegenerator 205 if the current power capacity of the generator 205 issufficient to meet an anticipated amount of power across a time periodfor which the power from the generator 205 is to be dispatched.

If the controller 206 determines to not dispatch power from thegenerator 205 (“NO”), processing may return to (224) in which thecontroller 206 may access updated load data associated with the utilityelectric power. In an alternative embodiment, processing may return to(220) or to (222) in which updated data may be retrieved and/or anupdated set point may be determined.

If the controller 206 determines to dispatch power from the generator205 (“YES”), the controller 206 may request (228) the automatic transferswitch 287 to dispatch power. Accordingly, the automatic transfer switch287 may cause (230) the power to be dispatched such that the property isbeing partially (or fully) powered by the power dispatched from thegenerator 205. In particular, the automatic transfer switch 287 maycause the utility power to be at least partially ceased and may activatedeployment of power from the generator 205. It should be appreciatedthat the automatic transfer switch 287 may cease dispatching power fromthe generator 205, at which point utility electric power may be used bythe property, at any time and in response to any condition or trigger,such as a condition or trigger as indicated by the set point determinedin (222).

During operation of the generator 205 (i.e., when power is beingdispatched from the generator 205), the controller 206 may collect (232)usage and performance data, such as from a set of sensors and/or othercomponents of the generator 205. According to embodiments, the usage andperformance may include various metrics associated with operation of thegenerator 205, including voltage output, power usage, electricalefficiency, stored power level, temperatures, engine diagnosticinformation, fuel consumption, customer utility load data, and/or othercharacteristics or metrics.

At 234, the controller 206 may transmit the collected usage andperformance data to the server(s) 210 via one or more networkconnections. It should be appreciated that the controller 206 maytransmit the collected data in real-time or near-real-time as the datais collected, or at set intervals. The server 210 may assess or analyze(236) the performance data for various purposes. For example, the server210 may analyze the data for research and development purposes, customerservice purposes (e.g., troubleshooting), determining improvements inoperation of the generator 205 (e.g., optimizing the determination ofthe set point(s)), and/or other purposes.

It should be appreciated that the customer (or generally, a user orindividual) may manually configure various operational aspects of thegenerator 205. For example, the customer may configure the generator 205to dispatch power at a certain time or date, and/or across a certaintime period, regardless of any economic benefit that may be realized ornot realized. According to aspects, the customer may configure thegenerator 205 on-site via a user interface or remotely via an electronicdevice communicating with the generator 205 via a network connection.

FIG. 3 depicts is a block diagram of an exemplary method 300 ofdetermining how to dispatch energy from an electric generator for acustomer. The method 300 may be facilitated by a controller associatedwith the electric generator, where the controller may communicate with abackend server to access and retrieve relevant data. The controller maysupport execution of a dedicated application that may facilitate thefunctionalities of the method 300.

The method 300 may begin when the controller accesses (block 305) atleast one of (i) a set of historical energy usage data associated withthe customer, (ii) a set of performance characteristics of the electricgenerator, or (iii) a set of time-of-use rates associated with utilitypower. According to embodiments, the controller may access variousportions of this data from the backend server or other local or remoteentity, from local storage, or from a combination thereof.

The controller may determine (block 310), based on the at least one of(i) the set of historical energy usage data associated with thecustomer, (ii) the set of performance characteristics of the electricgenerator, or (iii) the set of time-of-use rates associated with utilitypower, a set point to dispatch power from the electric generator.According to embodiments, the controller may initially determine, basedon the at least one of (i) the set of historical energy usage dataassociated with the customer, (ii) the set of performancecharacteristics of the electric generator, or (iii) the set oftime-of-use rates associated with utility power, a set of financialbenefits to the customer of dispatching the power from the electricgenerator. For example, the set of financial benefits may indicate afirst cost associated with continued use of the utility power and asecond cost associated with dispatching the power from the electricgenerator. The controller may also determine, based on the set offinancial benefits, the set point to dispatch power from the electricgenerator. For example, the set point may correspond to when it is morecost effective (as indicated in the set of financial benefits) todispatch the power from the electric generator versus continued use ofthe utility power.

The controller may optionally access (block 315) utility metered loaddata associated with the customer. In embodiments, the utility meteredload data may indicate a past and/or current usage level by the customerof the utility power, which the controller may additionally use todetermine the set point and/or determine when to dispatch the power fromthe electric generator.

The controller may determine (block 320) whether to dispatch the powerfrom the electric generator. In embodiments, the controller maydetermine to dispatch the power from the electric generator at the setpoint determined in block 310. Additionally or alternatively, thecontroller may account for the utility metered load data whendetermining whether to dispatch the power from the electric generator.For example, if the set point indicates to dispatch the power when acertain utility power usage rate meets a threshold amount, thecontroller may determine to dispatch the power when the utility metereddata is at least the threshold amount. In a scenario, the controller maydetermine to dispatch the power from the electric generator independentof the determined set point and/or the utility metered load data. Forexample, the controller may determine to dispatch the power from theelectric generator in response to detecting a utility power outage. Ifthe controller determines to not dispatch the power from the electricgenerator (“NO”), processing may return to block 315 (or block 305),end, or proceed to other functionality.

In contrast, if the controller determines to dispatch the power from theelectric generator (“YES”), the controller may cause (block 325) theelectric generator to dispatch the power according to the set point.Accordingly, the controller may facilitate a transition from theassociated property receiving utility power to receiving power from theelectric generator. In some implementations, the associated property maycontinue to receive some utility power in addition to receiving thepower from the electric generator.

When the electric generator is dispatching the power, the controller maycollect (block 330) (i) a set of performance data associated with theelectric generator, and (ii) usage load data associated with theelectric generator. According to embodiments, the controller may collectthe set of performance data from a set of sensors disposed within theelectric generator. Additionally, the usage load data may indicate anamount of power being output by the electric generator, among othermetrics or data.

The controller may transmit (block 335), to a server computer, the setof performance data and the usage load data. According to embodiments,the server computer may monitor a performance of the electric generatorbased on the set of performance data, and/or may audit, from the usageload data, a financial performance associated with use of the electricgenerator. Accordingly, the server computer may determine how to improvethe electric generator, and/or improve the operation of the electricgenerator.

Although the following text sets forth a detailed description ofnumerous different embodiments, it should be understood that the legalscope of the invention may be defined by the words of the claims setforth at the end of this patent. The detailed description is to beconstrued as exemplary only and does not describe every possibleembodiment, as describing every possible embodiment would beimpractical, if not impossible. One could implement numerous alternateembodiments, using either current technology or technology developedafter the filing date of this patent, which would still fall within thescope of the claims.

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures andfunctionality presented as separate components in example configurationsmay be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly,structures and functionality presented as a single component may beimplemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Additionally, certain embodiments are described herein as includinglogic or a number of routines, subroutines, applications, orinstructions. These may constitute either software (e.g., code embodiedon a non-transitory, machine-readable medium) or hardware. In hardware,the routines, etc., are tangible units capable of performing certainoperations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. Inexample embodiments, one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone,client or server computer system) or one or more hardware modules of acomputer system (e.g., a processor or a group of processors) may beconfigured by software (e.g., an application or application portion) asa hardware module that operates to perform certain operations asdescribed herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware module may be implementedmechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware module maycomprise dedicated circuitry or logic that may be permanently configured(e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a field programmable gatearray (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) toperform certain operations. A hardware module may also compriseprogrammable logic or circuitry (e.g., as encompassed within ageneral-purpose processor or other programmable processor) that may betemporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. Itwill be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware modulemechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or intemporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may bedriven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the term “hardware module” should be understood toencompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarilyconfigured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or toperform certain operations described herein. Considering embodiments inwhich hardware modules are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed),each of the hardware modules need not be configured or instantiated atany one instance in time. For example, where the hardware modulescomprise a general-purpose processor configured using software, thegeneral-purpose processor may be configured as respective differenthardware modules at different times. Software may accordingly configurea processor, for example, to constitute a particular hardware module atone instance of time and to constitute a different hardware module at adifferent instance of time.

Hardware modules may provide information to, and receive informationfrom, other hardware modules. Accordingly, the described hardwaremodules may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multipleof such hardware modules exist contemporaneously, communications may beachieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuitsand buses) that connect the hardware modules. In embodiments in whichmultiple hardware modules are configured or instantiated at differenttimes, communications between such hardware modules may be achieved, forexample, through the storage and retrieval of information in memorystructures to which the multiple hardware modules have access. Forexample, one hardware module may perform an operation and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it may becommunicatively coupled. A further hardware module may then, at a latertime, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware modules may also initiate communications with input oroutput devices, and may operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods or routines described herein may be at leastpartially processor-implemented. For example, at least some of theoperations of a method may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented hardware modules. The performance of certain ofthe operations may be distributed among the one or more processors, notonly residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some example embodiments, the processor or processors maybe located in a single location (e.g., within a home environment, anoffice environment, or as a server farm), while in other embodiments theprocessors may be distributed across a number of locations.

The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe one or more processors, not only residing within a single machine,but deployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments,the one or more processors or processor-implemented modules may belocated in a single geographic location (e.g., within a homeenvironment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other exampleembodiments, the one or more processors or processor-implemented modulesmay be distributed across a number of geographic locations.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using wordssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,”“presenting,” “displaying,” or the like may refer to actions orprocesses of a machine (e.g., a computer) that manipulates or transformsdata represented as physical (e.g., electronic, magnetic, or optical)quantities within one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory,non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof), registers, or othermachine components that receive, store, transmit, or displayinformation.

As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment may be included in at leastone embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” invarious places in the specification are not necessarily all referring tothe same embodiment.

The terms “insurer,” “insuring party,” and “insurance provider” are usedinterchangeably herein to generally refer to a party or entity (e.g., abusiness or other organizational entity) that provides insuranceproducts, e.g., by offering and issuing insurance policies. Typically,but not necessarily, an insurance provider may be an insurance company.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “may include,”“including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited to only those elements but may include otherelements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary,“or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example,a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true(or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or notpresent) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (orpresent).

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elementsand components of the embodiments herein. This is done merely forconvenience and to give a general sense of the description. Thisdescription, and the claims that follow, should be read to include oneor at least one and the singular also may include the plural unless itis obvious that it is meant otherwise.

This detailed description is to be construed as examples and does notdescribe every possible embodiment, as describing every possibleembodiment would be impractical, if not impossible. One could implementnumerous alternate embodiments, using either current technology ortechnology developed after the filing date of this application.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method of determining howto dispatch energy from a generator for a customer, the methodcomprising: accessing (i) a set of historical energy usage dataassociated with the customer or rate data associated with utility power,and (ii) a set of performance characteristics of the generator;determining, by a controller of the generator based on (i) the set ofhistorical energy usage data or the rate data, and (ii) the set ofperformance characteristics, a set point to dispatch power from thegenerator; accessing, by the controller, utility metered load dataassociated with the customer; and based on the utility metered loaddata, requesting, by the controller, an automatic transfer switch of thegenerator to activate dispatching of the power from the generatoraccording to the set point.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim1, wherein accessing the rate data comprises: accessing a set oftime-of-use rates associated with the utility power.
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining the setpoint to dispatch the power from the electrical generator comprises:determining, by the controller based on (i) the set of historical energyusage data or the rate data, and (ii) the set of performancecharacteristics, a set of financial benefits to the customer ofdispatching the power from the generator; and determining, by thecontroller based on the set of financial benefits, the set point todispatch power from the generator.
 4. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, further comprising: collecting, by the controller when thegenerator is dispatching the power, a set of performance data associatedwith the generator.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4,wherein collecting the set of performance data associated with thegenerator comprises: collecting the set of performance data from a setof sensors disposed within the electronic generator.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: collecting,by the controller when the generator is dispatching the power, usageload data associated with the generator.
 7. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, further comprising: detecting an outage associatedwith utility power; and in response to detecting the outage, causing thegenerator to dispatch the power.
 8. A generator comprising: a memorystoring a set of performance characteristics associated with thegenerator; a transceiver configured to communicate with a server via atleast one network connection; an automatic transfer switch; and acontroller interfaced with the memory, the transceiver, and theautomatic transfer switch, and configured to: access, via thetransceiver, a set of historical energy usage data associated with acustomer or a set of rate data associated with utility power, determine,based on (i) the set of performance characteristics and (ii) the set ofhistorical energy usage data or the rate data, a set point to dispatchpower from the generator, access utility metered load data associatedwith the customer, and based on the utility metered load data, requestthe automatic transfer switch to activate dispatching of the power fromthe generator according to the set point.
 9. The generator of claim 8,wherein the controller is further configured to: collect usage load dataassociated with the generator, and transmit, via the transceiver, theusage load data.
 10. The generator of claim 9, wherein the servercomputer audits, from the usage load data, a financial performanceassociated with use of the generator.
 11. The generator of claim 8,wherein the controller is further configured to: collect a set ofperformance data associated with dispatching the power.
 12. Thegenerator of claim 11, further comprising: a set of sensors; wherein thecontroller collects the set of performance data from the set of sensors.13. The generator of claim 8, wherein to determine the set point todispatch the power from the generator, the controller is configured to:determine, based on (i) the set of performance characteristics and (ii)the set of historical energy usage data or the rate data, a set offinancial benefits to the customer of dispatching the power from thegenerator, and determine, based on the set of financial benefits, theset point to dispatch the power from the generator.
 14. The generator ofclaim 8, wherein the controller is further configured to: detect anoutage associated with the utility power, and in response to detectingthe outage, dispatch the power.
 15. A computer-implemented method ofdispatching energy from a generator for a customer, the methodcomprising: accessing (i) a set of historical energy usage dataassociated with the customer or a set of rate data associated withutility power, and (ii) a set of performance characteristics of thegenerator; determining, by a controller of the generator based on (i)the set of historical energy usage data or the rate data, and (ii) theset of performance characteristics, a set point to dispatch power fromthe generator; and at the set point, request, by the controller, anautomatic transfer switch of the generator to activate dispatching ofthe power from the generator.
 16. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 15, wherein accessing the set of rate data comprises: accessing aset of time-of-use rates associated with the utility power.
 17. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein determining the setpoint to dispatch the power from the electrical generator comprises:determining, by the controller of the generator based on (i) the set ofhistorical energy usage data or the rate data, and (ii) the set ofperformance characteristics, a set of financial benefits to the customerof dispatching the power from the generator; and determining, by thecontroller based on the set of financial benefits, the set point todispatch power from the generator.
 18. The computer-implemented methodof claim 15, further comprising: collecting, by the controller when thegenerator is dispatching the power, (i) usage load data associated withthe generator, and (ii) a set of performance data associated with thegenerator; and transmitting, via a transceiver to a server computer, theset of performance data and the usage load data, wherein the servercomputer (i) monitors a performance of the generator based on the set ofperformance data, and (ii) audits, from the usage load data, a financialperformance associated with use of the generator.
 19. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein collecting the set ofperformance data associated with the generator comprises: collecting theset of performance data from a set of sensors disposed within theelectronic generator.
 20. The computer-implemented method of claim 15,further comprising: detecting an outage associated with the utilitypower; and in response to detecting the outage, causing the generator todispatch the power.